To think it was not an overreaction to call the police?

[hottubwhocares]

We were out today at a family event. We were parked up in the car park of the venue and were getting in our cars to travel home. There was a man parked next to us in the (relatively narrow) bays, window down, chatting to his girlfriend. He was there when we came out and approached our car.

DD age 8 was getting into the back passenger side of our car, so on the same side as his car. I was on the other/driver’s side. As I was getting in, I heard DD start to scream. Basically the man next to us had started to move his car forward and his back wheel had run over the back of her ankle/foot.

I immediately ran round the back of the car, picked her up, helped her into the back seat and took her shoe and sock off to have a look. The top layer of skin had come off and it looked bruised so I went round to his car, said sorry, I think you have hurt her so I am going to need your details.

He and his girlfriend then said ‘Why? I haven’t done anything wrong’. I asked if he was refusing and he said he ‘didn’t even know what happened’ and started mouthing off.

So, I called 999 and of course the second he heard I was on the phone to the police, he started offering his details.

Two police cars then attended. DH is furious with me and says I completely overreacted as DD’s injury was minor (scrapes and bruises) and I ‘see the worst in everyone’. I am very upset about his lack of support when our child was hurt and upset.

FWIW I would never move my own car when a child was down the side and if I had ever done anything like this I certainly wouldn’t be mouthing off at the parent of the injured child!

So, was it an overreaction to call the police?

BTW I used to be a police dispatcher, I’d have graded it emergency too, and definitely NOT said you should have called on 101 and waited 20 minutes or more…

The police clearly thought differently.

Possibly because the OP didn't bother telling them the driver was now offering his details, so there was no need to attend?

I can understand why you rang the police- your child was hurt and he was mouthing off- people can be very aggressive when they get defensive. Did the police seem put out that you rang them about this just out of interest?

The driver sounds like a prick btw.

Your daughter was fine in the end. You may have come across as aggressive if you were demanding his details without him even being aware something had happened. I would have approached him differently and taken his reg details should he have chosen not to cooperate.

You overreacted and shouldn’t have call 999 as it clearly wasn’t an emergency.
Called the non emergency number and reported it yes, but not 999.

yes, I would have done this
You were in no immediate danger and it was not an emergency. I am not sure what details you needed from him anyway.
I am very surprised The Police came so fast, I imagine that when you said a car had hit a child that got their attention

Someone ran over my foot when I was 14. I was fine but the woman ended up calling the police on herself. They arrived at my house later to check I was ok. The car definitely ran over my foot and didn't graze it and I was alright.

I think in hindsight, you should have just taken his reg but in the heat of the moment you thought it best to call the police. You were lucky they came. Some random hit my son with a steel pole once and the police wouldn't attend. He was 10.

You didn't have time to weigh up all the pros and cons, especially if your DH wasn't helping. You had to act quickly, which you did. Do NOT feel bad for doing the right thing by your child.
If the police had felt it was inappropriate that you'd called the emergency number, they would have told you afterwards, however politely.
The only person who did the wrong thing here is him.

If it had been an over-reaction the police would have taken you aside and let you know. They would not have bothered to take him aside and look at cctv.

It was a shocking and frightening thing and we all react differently. You are a fighter, whereas your DH is more of an avoid escalation type.

Being a police matter and being a 999 matter are two different things

Why? he was about to do a hit and run

YANBU. Your husband most likely didn't like the fact that you were the one who sprung into action, while he was being ineffective. Men are socialized to see themselves as the protector of their family, and your husband realised in that moment he didn't know how to do that effectively. So instead of supporting you while you took appropriate steps, he tried to minimise the situation instead. I saw my dad do this a lot with my mum growing up. If a man acted rude to her or one of us kids, he would become frustrated not towards the man but towards my mum for 'making a scene'

No they didn’t. OP said they said it was a police matter not that they said you did the right thing calling 999. If they had she wouldnt be on here asking if she did the right thing.
You have no idea what the police actually thought.

I wouldn’t have called 999 as I wouldn’t have viewed it as an emergency. I’d have taken a picture of him and the number plate and reported it to the police.
However, given that the police arrived within minutes, I assume I am wrong in my judgement and 999 is fine.

YABVU to call 999- complete overreaction

The driver injured a child with his car because he wasn’t paying attention. That’s driving without due care and attention. He then attempted to leave the scene of an accident without giving his details. May not have been an emergency but it clearly warranted police involvement if he became abusive when OP asked for his details.

Pedantic much. If they didn’t consider it a police matter why did they turn up ?

I don't see why you'd call the police unless it was deliberate.

Reads like the shit they do in the USA when they're trying to get a claim in.

Why would details be required. I mean he should have been apologetic and offer to go get a bandaid maybe but I wouldn't give some rando my details either. For all he knows you could be some vengeful psycho.

I can't phathom calling the police over something accidental. A minor one at that.

He did. He ran over the child’s heel. The heel is part of the foot.

why are you minimising this?

the is a man who didn’t take due care and attention when driving. He ran over a child’s foot. Rather than being horrified he denied he did anything wrong and was about to do a hit and run if the OP hadn’t called the police.

I to think you were right to call them. If he had stopped, been remorseful, apologised, made sure that your child was safe etc etc then I probably wouldn’t have bothered and thought it was an awful moments carelessness and inattention, but knowing he had injured a child and still going to drive off would make me think he was trying to hide something,, no licence, banned from driving, no insurance, cloned plates,over the limit, outstanding warrant or something . I would want to get him checked out too.

If she’d called the non emergency number the bloke would have been long gone by the time they arrived. He injured her child, became abusive when she asked for his details and tried to leave the scene of an accident. Seems a lot of fuss instead of him just giving his details and complying with the law. Who knows what he may have been trying to hide.

Don’t disagree with any of that, but you still get police involvement by calling the non emergency number. It’s still for people breaking the law. They will assess it and escalate to 999 if need be. You and a lot of people on here seem to think 999 is for people breaking the law and the non emergency number is for anything else.

IMHO if someone is kicking off then its a 999 job

Just for your own protection if nothing else

Likewise they can decide to not think emergency if you call 999